In 1849, the well-known Chief Wapasha granted permission to his friend, fur-trader Willard Bunnell, to build a cabin on Dakota land at what is now Homer, Minnesota. Within a decade, Bunnell had built another, much finer, home nearby to house his wife and family -- the present-day Bunnell House. An outstanding example of Rural (or Steamboat) Gothic Architecture, the home is built of northern white pine and furnished with items appropriate to the mid-to-late 1800's. Knowledgeable guides walk visitors through three floors of pioneers life, encompassing the historical period during which Native American canoes gave way to steamboats and game-trails became roads and highways for Euro-Americans.
